A common desire in the pouring of concrete floors for basements, patios, and the like, is the installation of one or more electrical outlets in the concrete floor in order to provide electrical service in a given floor area. In order to meet this need, various electrical boxes have been proposed for concrete pours. These boxes are placed within the forms that will receive the concrete pour, the concrete is poured around the electrical box, and, after the concrete cures, an electrical component is mounted within the box.
One problem that commonly occurs when an electrical box is placed within the form area that will receive the concrete pour is the shifting of the orientation of the electrical box as a result of the heavy concrete mixture forcing the box out of the desired vertical plumb. In other cases, the concrete surface is purposely sloped and the concrete pour forces the electrical box out of alignment with the concrete surface. In either case, an adjustment must be made in order to mount the electrical component, such as a duplex receptacle, substantially level with the concrete surface.
Several electrical boxes have been proposed in order to compensate for the misalignment of an electrical box as a result of a concrete pour. Typically, these electrical boxes use a leveling ring that can be adjusted to align the electrical component with the level of the concrete. Two general types of leveling rings have been proposed, including those attached by clips within the electrical box and those secured to the box by adhesive. Both of these methods are cumbersome to implement. Installation of clips within an electrical box adds a degree of difficulty, as the installer must typically manipulate a plurality of clips, attaching one end of the clip within the electrical box and the opposing ends to the leveling ring to secure the ring to the box. Although attachment of leveling rings by adhesive has been proposed, it is messy as, instead of being confined to the ring, the adhesive typically spreads within the electrical box to other surfaces away from the ring. Additionally, if later readjustment of the ring is needed, use of adhesive makes it very difficult to readjust the position of the leveling ring.
What is needed therefore is an improved electrical box for concrete pours that enables secure mounting of an electrical device, enables mounting of a wide range of electrical covers, and that also eliminates the use of clips and adhesive. Furthermore, what is needed is an electrical box for concrete pours that provides the capability to mount both high and low voltage components in the same box.